ST. LOUIS – Cisco, Altiostar, an innovator in open virtual RAN (vRAN) technology, and World Wide Technology (WWT), a market-leading $12 billion technology solution provider, today announced the companies are working together on an Open vRAN blueprint that will accelerate the deployment of 4G/5G OpenRAN solutions in service provider networks. The combined solution will help service providers deploy fully integrated open, cloud-based virtualized RAN solutions based on technologies created by Cisco and Altiostar and that will be brought to market using the sales, integration and deployment capabilities of WWT.

"Innovation in mobile networking and open virtualized RAN is continuing at a rapid pace," said Bob Everson, Senior Director of 5G Architecture, Cisco. "Most service providers need help accelerating the integration and adoption of open vRAN to realize these benefits. We are helping to eliminate this gap and enable operators to adopt new, open architectures to increase their competitiveness."

The open, cloud-based virtualized RAN blueprint consists of infrastructure software and hardware from Cisco, including its Cisco Virtual Infrastructure Manager (CVIM) platform, Ultra Packet Core, and Converged SDN Transport. Also included is Altiostar's 4G and 5G open vRAN software, which supports open interfaces and disaggregates the radio hardware from the radio software. The open vRAN approach enables a new ecosystem of vendors to participate in the RAN industry while leveraging the benefits of cloud-based architecture including web-scale hardware and systems. The blueprint is a major step towards realization of the industry's 5G vision by delivering an open, agile, software-driven network that enables richer services, with greater flexibility at a lower cost.

"This blueprint brings together leaders in all the areas needed to roll out a complete and open vRAN solution to both rural and urban networks. It is driven by the growing interest in adopting open virtualized RAN amongst the services provider community because of the significant cost and flexibility benefits it brings to their networks," said Thierry Maupile, Executive VP of Strategy and Product Management of Altiostar, "We are happy to partner with Cisco and WWT to create a portfolio consisting of a RAN solution and services that will accelerate the time to adopt for open virtualized RAN for both Tier-1 and Tier-2 operators."

The Open vRAN blueprint will be validated in WWT's state-of-the-art Advanced Technology Center (ATC), a one-of-a-kind testing and validation facility equipped with roughly $1 billion in hardware and software, and take advantage of WWT's deep integration and deployment expertise through its global integration centers in Mumbai, Singapore, St. Louis, and Amsterdam. The ATC is a key enabler to solution innovation and can help operators make critical technology decisions faster than ever — from designing and conceptualizing solutions to validating new industry architectures. WWT will then take the Open vRAN blueprint to market as a fully integrated solution that will be available for customers to test and deploy in their networks with the support of services from WWT and Cisco.

"Service Providers are looking to disaggregate and virtualize their infrastructure to enable them to become more agile in delivering new services to their enterprise and consumer customers," said Joe Wojtal, CTO for WWT's Global Service Provider business. "In this environment, WWT's facilities, the ATC and global integration centers, are becoming the service provider industry's Next Generation Factory, which enables the consumption of multi-vendor solutions at speed and with scale."

World Wide Technology